After they had passed the Fourth Quarter sign by a considerable distance, they entered an area whose floor was made entirely of wooden planks.
One of them kept looking around in panic, increasing his speed as he ran!
As he did so, he stepped on one of the wooden planks, causing it to sink a few centimeters beneath his foot.
He quickly pulled his foot back, and before he could continue running…
He heard a faint buzzing sound.
His pupils contracted to their utmost.
With all his strength, he tried to leap away.
But…
Within a fraction of a second, a circle nearly six meters in diameter filled with spears rising through the gaps that had opened between the wooden planks the moment he stepped on the sunken plank!
And while he was still in midair, three spears pierced his body!
His blood soaked the wooden planks and also…
Mixed with the blood of others…
This trap killed four people among those at the front within just a few seconds…
Meanwhile, Haiven stared at the people being impaled by the spears before him, and for a moment, an expression of shock filled his face…
But the expression of shock soon faded, replaced by one of intense displeasure…
And soon, the expression of displeasure faded as well, leaving behind a cold face…
A face that had come to understand a part of this world’s cruelty.
At that moment, without even realizing it, a part of his heart hardened…
He shifted his gaze toward the people who were still increasing their speed, running past him toward their deaths, and muttered:
“Why do you risk your lives so easily, as though you have never valued them at all?”
“Yes, because you despise yourselves to the greatest extent.”
“That enormous emptiness… that great fracture within your souls… nothing can soothe it except praise and glorification, and that will only make it grow even more.”
“Anyone who does not understand the value of their own life has no right to risk it.”
“In the end, you’re nothing more than fools crushed beneath the pressure of society…”
…
As he ran, Haiven stepped on one of the planks.
He looked at the plank he had stepped on moments ago and thought:
“The trap didn’t activate?!”
“Then…”
“Was my feeling that the plank sank at that moment… merely an illusion?”
“Since when did I become this frightened…?”
Two people quickly passed him.
Haiven got back up and continued running, thinking:
“This trap cannot be avoided through speed once the wooden plank has fully descended. Once the wooden plank has completely sunk, no matter how fast you are, you won’t escape the spears!”
“And therefore, the way to avoid this trap is not to trigger it in the first place!”
“So there is no other choice but to keep moving away and jump quickly the moment I sense the plank sinking, even if it is merely the slightest movement of an ordinary wooden plank!”
“But the main problem lies in the slowdown caused by this excessive caution, especially when combined with the fact that these people are crazy enough to value an opportunity over their lives. I’ll keep falling farther and farther behind the lead…”
His thoughts were interrupted by a boy passing beside him at an insane speed.
Haiven smiled mockingly and said:
“Another victim…”
But his expression soon tightened.
That boy was still running at that tremendous speed between the traps, and even more strangely, he had not triggered a single trap!
Haiven stared at him and shouted in his mind:
“There’s no way that’s a coincidence!”
Haiven quickly abandoned his own path and followed the boy’s path precisely, thinking:
“Could this be a secret path free of traps?!”
But…
A plank descended.
Haiven quickly threw himself to the side, barely avoiding the spears.
He resumed running and followed that path.
A plank descended.
Haiven quickly threw himself to the side, barely avoiding the spears, and one of them even tore his robe.
Haiven spoke to himself:
“I’m going insane!”
“How can he avoid all of them with such precision while running at this speed?!”
…
As Haiven focused on watching the boy, he noticed something strange.
The boy’s foot had barely touched one of the wooden planks, but before it fully descended, he bent it slightly and pressed his foot a little toward the right, then quickly released it toward the left, continuing to run without activating the trap!
Haiven shouted in his mind:
“Is this your secret?!”
“It looks like such a simple movement, but just how effective is it really?”
“It’s a gamble!”
“But…”
“At this rate, I’ll lose the lead entirely, and at worst, this path may be the longest, with the ninety-nine students from the other paths already making it out ahead of me!”
“Losing the lead is not an option!”
“I’ll bet on it regardless of the outcome!”
And indeed, after only a few steps, Haiven suddenly felt the wooden plank sinking.
But this time, instead of throwing himself to the side, he bent slightly and pressed his foot a little toward the right, then released it toward the left, and indeed continued running without activating the trap!
He shouted in his mind:
“It worked!”
“I can hardly believe there’s a loophole like this!”
“But…”
“How did he discover it in the first place?!”
“Was it merely a coincidence?!”
Haiven stared at the mysterious boy and continued:
“Or is this what he wants us to think?”
…
As he ran, having drawn closer to the boy who had now taken the lead by himself, Haiven suddenly felt the wooden plank sinking.
He immediately bent slightly and pressed his foot a little toward the right, then released it toward the left.
But after moving a few steps away, he heard a faint buzzing sound!
His pupils contracted to their utmost!